PSU Suggestions?

WeatherGeek

WeatherGeek

New Member
Hey guys... I'm having some trouble finding a good - budget PSU, heres what I'm looking for...
preferably 500-600watts,but anything that would work with my specs below I'm gonna be using the PCIx16 slot for my graphics card so I'm assuming I'll need one with a PCI connector (mobo has 2 PCIx16s.. posted below), obviously I'd like good hold up time, any other pros are of course good. Here's the system I'll be building
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131025

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144701

Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC22G6400LLK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220144

ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with 14X DVD-RAM Write and LightScribe Black PATA Model DRW-1814BL - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827135148

and

Scythe YD-8V08-BK (Black) 18-in-1 USB 2.0 FDD & Card Reader Combo - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820408002

My current graphics card is just the Radeon X700 pro... but I'd like to get a PSU that will work with the future DX10 cards,along with what I have for above specs.
 
I just swapped out the Antec True Power II 480w put in a new build last spring for the TP2 550w model that's been sitting around and never used for that amount of time since adding two large sata drives in along with two 250gb ide drives. This will cover any further additions on the Socket 939 case here including any upgrade of board, cpu, memory, and other drives, devices. While the 480w model was still able to run the system the 550w leaves room.

The first question however is price range! A good supply in the 500-600w range will cost a little more. There are too many "cheapies" seen for under $50 that aren't worth the effort to swing a base bat at them. You want to get into a good make and model since a great supply make a great build.

Currently newegg has a low inventory at this time again. Out of all the 500-600w supplies currently seen the best two are Antec of the three models seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E&N=2010320058+50001516+1131414178&name=Antec The TP3 now made by Seasonic not Channel Well lacks a little over the TP2s seen there. Newegg doesn't currently have the Corsair 520HX model I could have shown you at this time. In case you decide to look around the two lists here show the "good" and the "bad".


Good:
Antec(except Smart Power models) - Astec - AOpen - Channel Well - Coolermaster - Enermax(except Liberty models)
- Enlight - Fortron Source (Sparkle) - HEC - OCZ Technology - PC Power & Cooling - PowerMan
- Seasonic - SilverStone - Sunbeam - Tagan(older models) - TTGI/SuperFlower - Vantec - Zippy / Emacs - Verax - XCLIO - Zalman
- Corsair

Bad:
Allied - Antec Smart Power models seem to lack(recommend True Power or NeoHE) - Aspire - CoolMax - DEER - Enermax Liberty models - ePower - EYE-T
- KingStar - L&C - Linkworld - Logisys - PowerMagic - PowerUp - Powmax - Q-Tec - Raidmax - Skyhawk - Star
- Turbolink - Ultra - ThermalTake(complaints heard some good some ???) - Rosewill - SilenX ??? ToPower(newer models)
 
Looks like the Corsair's back in stock now.

What's your budget for the PSU, and what sort of DX10 card do you intend to power (e.g. will it be a top of the line X2900XTX, or something more budget focused like an 8600? Or by cards do you mean multiple cards in CF/SLI?)
 
ceewi1 said:
Looks like the Corsair's back in stock now.

What's your budget for the PSU, and what sort of DX10 card do you intend to power (e.g. will it be a top of the line X2900XTX, or something more budget focused like an 8600? Or by cards do you mean multiple cards in CF/SLI?)
Click to expand...

I intend to get something that is partially budget focused but also that will give good performance in FSX. Right now, if price/spec estimates are correct on the 8600 ultra, it looks like a better choice for me, but I dont know the prices/specs really for the X2900XT /XTX either... do you have any info?
BTW I don't intend to be using SLI or CF right now.
 
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The only information found lately and discussed on another thread points at the 9" retail version of the Radeon X2900 as being about $200 or so. But that's by no means the exact price you may see when it does come out along with the new R600 series cards.

One review on the X2000 model saw that blow right by the X1950XTX as well as the 7950s and even the 8600s and 8800s. What got notice there was the low price range compared to the usual $500+ tag seen on a new card out.

It might have been a glitch on their server ceewi1 when trying to locate the Corsair 520HX model now seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

I put that TP2 550w model in after adding another drive here. Well it sat in the original plastic wrap since last spring and looked at me wondering. The 480w will still be a good backup model to have around. :P
 
PC eye said:
The only information found lately and discussed on another thread points at the 9" retail version of the Radeon X2900 as being about $200 or so. But that's by no means the exact price you may see when it does come out along with the new R600 series cards.

One review on the X2000 model saw that blow right by the X1950XTX as well as the 7950s and even the 8600s and 8800s. What got notice there was the low price range compared to the usual $500+ tag seen on a new card out.

It might have been a glitch on their server ceewi1 when trying to locate the Corsair 520HX model now seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

I put that TP2 550w model in after adding another drive here. Well it sat in the original plastic wrap since last spring and looked at me wondering. The 480w will still be a good backup model to have around. :P
Click to expand...

Thanks... I wasnt really planning on spending anything over 80 or 100 USD on the PSU, do you think it's necessary to get these $100+ models? Or is there something pretty good and similar for a lower price?
 
You specified 500-600w initially. I caught the Antec 550w now in use here on sale last year for like $89.99. For a quality make you will be spending up into the $80-$120 most of the time to see 500w+. While Antec is sometimes higher pricewise then other makes the NeoHE 500w model goes for $99.99 at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103940

The XCLIO Great Power 550w model goes for $10 less at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817189006

The actual lowest price found is on the Enermax Whisper II 535w model seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103512

The last consideration is the Mushkin 550w model with a $20 mailin rebate seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817812002

Now that the bulk of makes and models is seen you have a few more options to choose from and are on the "good" list.
 
I wouldn't. That Real Power was good for its time, but the total +12V@30A is far too low for a modern PSU at that price, and the efficiency is quite poor (mid 70% range).

If you want a CoolerMaster PSU, the newer iGreen units would be a better buy.

As for 20+4 vs 24 pin, 20+4 pin connectors have a 4pin 'breakaway' connector, so that they can easily be used with an older/lowend 20pin motherboard. 24pin connectors just have a fixed 24pins, if you want to use it with an old/lowend board you need to use an adaptor. As you'll be using a board with a 24pin connector, there's no important difference.
 
Most of the time the fixed 24pin are geared more towards server use not the average desktop application. What will the actual prices be when the new R600 lineup comes out? I'll still be waiting to see what those are. Meanwhile I thought I would drop a link in here for ceewi1 to see which 550w model I was referring to since Antec has a Truecontrol series as well as the Truepower line. You can look this over at http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=22550
 
The MSI Mobo I am looking to get says its power pin is 24pin. Will a 20+4pin work on this without any adapters. If i need adapters, what ones?
 
The fact that the 20+4pin still has the added 4pin break away plug for older boards shows it has a more universal format. OCZ brand supplies also have BTX type connectors used on strictly server type boards giving them the universal edge there over many makes. You simply use all 20+4=24pins.
 
PC eye said:
The fact that the 20+4pin still has the added 4pin break away plug for older boards shows it has a more universal format. OCZ brand supplies also have BTX type connectors used on strictly server type boards giving them the universal edge there over many makes. You simply use all 20+4=24pins.
Click to expand...
??? BTX and ATX pinouts are identical. Perhaps you are referring to an EPS connector? But OCZ is far from the only brand to include an EPS connector, and they are no longer found solely on server boards.

In any case, a 20+4pin will indeed work without any adapters.
 
The full definitions on both atx and btx form factors can reviewed at http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/BTX_Specification%20v1.0a.pdf This has more to do with the type of board layouts. The image at the link here shows some of that. http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/2549/btxformfactorie8.jpg

One good page for information on the various types of connectors including the BTX and EPS types describes the btx 8pin connector seen here.



"The connector on the right is called the "EPS connector." It's typically used on SSI or SMP boards, mostly of the server variety. Essentially, it is two of the +12V connectors side by side and comprises of four +12V leads and four grounds. A quad rail SSI power supply tends to have each pair of +12V leads on this connector on it's own rail, essentially providing each CPU in a dual CPU arrangement it's own dedicated rail. Recently, high performance boards (like the Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe) have added an EPS connector to provide better amperage, through more leads.
Like the 20 and 24-pin ATX main power connectors, EPS and +12V connectors are interchangeable. A 4-pin +12V connector will fit in an EPS receptacle and an EPS connector can fit into a +12V receptacle if you leave four pins hanging off the edge.
In fact, some power supplies actually provide an 8-pin EPS that can be split into two 4-pin connectors (see below left,) one of which can be used for the +12V connector." http://www.motherboards.org/articles/guides/1487_4.html

The picture above is seen to the right of the common four wire 12v cpu feed there for standard atx boards. That was the one item seen on the 550w just used to swap the 480w model here. A look at the other site shows the difference in how three different btx boards are layed out.
 
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